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4.24 AVERAGE
4.24 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
slow-paced
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I love these characters so much! While reading I was totally transported into their world and I dreamt of their community at night. They gave me such joy. So few books offer up a community of compassion and mutual support. The banter between these characters is delightful. I was drawn into their fun and laughed out loud. Their lives have heartbreak and grief, they struggle but struggle together in love. And they tell each other “I love you,” for these friends have cobbled together a family. An irregular family, for sure.
There is the handsome British soldier Ulysses and his wife Peg. They grew up together, and married while on a bender. They love each other, are attracted to each other, but not meant for each other. Peg fell in love with an American soldier while her husband was away and bore a love child, Alys, who looks just like her dad but has her mother’s moxy. Peg can’t forget Eddie and when Ulysses returns home, she asks for a divorce. She waits for her soldier to return to her. Ulysses becomes attached to Alys as if she were his own.
Col and Cressy own the tavern where Peg works and sometimes singing with the pianist Pete. A blue fronted Amazonian parrot named Claude lives in the bar, spouting out Shakespeare with impeccable timing. Col is a single parent with a special needs daughter. The men offer Ulysses a job.
At the end of the war, Ulysses was in Florence with fellow soldier and art historian Captain Darnley, the best man he ever knew, looking to reclaim art treasures. The older art historian Evelyn Skinner arrived to help. She first visited Florence when she was twenty, and in this city had discovered love in all it’s glory and pain. Their paths cross for just a moment in time, but they leave impressions that last lifetimes.
Ulysses becomes a hero when he saves the life of a man preparing to jump from a building. Arturo is grateful and, unknown to Ulysses, wills his savior his entire estate.
Upon Arturo’s death, Ulysses returns to Florence to claim his legacy. Peg asks him to take Alys with him, as he is the better ‘parent’. At the last moment, Cress joins them, with the parrot secured in a false bottomed suitcase. Cress has won a fortune on a lucky bet. (Lucky bets change fortunes of numerous characters!) The three become an unusual family.
Ulysses makes a deep friendship with Massimo, who has handled the estate. They have two floors, and decide to turn one floor into a pensione. The ex-pats are periodically joined by Pete, Peg, and Col. The heartbroken Peg becomes involved with a wealthy man who treats her badly. Alys blossoms although her relationship with her mother is always strained and distant.
Over the years, Ulysses and Evelyn think of each other and even pass each other on the street. After a horrific flood, people come from all over to help clean up and rescue art works and books. One is Evelyn’s student and he becomes friends with Alys.
Florence is beautifully described, the architecture and landscape, the people, and especially the art. “Beautiful art opens our eyes to the beauty of the world, Evelyn proclaims. “Captures forever that which is fleeting.” War’s toll on Florence, and in Britain, is portrayed; after an explosion, Claude lost all this feathers and went silent. The filthy, ruined rooms where priceless art is found in the rubble of the war. The changes over time, culminating in a disastrous flood.
And–E. M. Forster makes an appearance in the story! His novel A Room With a View, a novel about changing social norms and embracing passion, is constantly referenced. Darnley reminds Evelyn of Forster.
Ulysses is a hero in so many ways. Saving Arturo’s life. Raising Alys. His deep friendships, his acceptance of people as they are, blessing them with the courage to be themselves. While others find love–Col, Cressy, Alys, even Massimo–he remains alone but for moments with Peg and a few kisses and touching of hands with a local woman. Peg has waited for a man she believed would return; Ulysses has mourned a man he knew would never return.
This is the story of love, every kind of love. Between friends, between ex-lovers, between women and between men. And I found myself swelling with love as I read. I wanted to live in this world. Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance, and Forster’s novel of social changes, reflect the theme of this novel and it’s nearly utopian, ideal world.
I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased
There is the handsome British soldier Ulysses and his wife Peg. They grew up together, and married while on a bender. They love each other, are attracted to each other, but not meant for each other. Peg fell in love with an American soldier while her husband was away and bore a love child, Alys, who looks just like her dad but has her mother’s moxy. Peg can’t forget Eddie and when Ulysses returns home, she asks for a divorce. She waits for her soldier to return to her. Ulysses becomes attached to Alys as if she were his own.
Col and Cressy own the tavern where Peg works and sometimes singing with the pianist Pete. A blue fronted Amazonian parrot named Claude lives in the bar, spouting out Shakespeare with impeccable timing. Col is a single parent with a special needs daughter. The men offer Ulysses a job.
At the end of the war, Ulysses was in Florence with fellow soldier and art historian Captain Darnley, the best man he ever knew, looking to reclaim art treasures. The older art historian Evelyn Skinner arrived to help. She first visited Florence when she was twenty, and in this city had discovered love in all it’s glory and pain. Their paths cross for just a moment in time, but they leave impressions that last lifetimes.
Ulysses becomes a hero when he saves the life of a man preparing to jump from a building. Arturo is grateful and, unknown to Ulysses, wills his savior his entire estate.
Upon Arturo’s death, Ulysses returns to Florence to claim his legacy. Peg asks him to take Alys with him, as he is the better ‘parent’. At the last moment, Cress joins them, with the parrot secured in a false bottomed suitcase. Cress has won a fortune on a lucky bet. (Lucky bets change fortunes of numerous characters!) The three become an unusual family.
Ulysses makes a deep friendship with Massimo, who has handled the estate. They have two floors, and decide to turn one floor into a pensione. The ex-pats are periodically joined by Pete, Peg, and Col. The heartbroken Peg becomes involved with a wealthy man who treats her badly. Alys blossoms although her relationship with her mother is always strained and distant.
Over the years, Ulysses and Evelyn think of each other and even pass each other on the street. After a horrific flood, people come from all over to help clean up and rescue art works and books. One is Evelyn’s student and he becomes friends with Alys.
Florence is beautifully described, the architecture and landscape, the people, and especially the art. “Beautiful art opens our eyes to the beauty of the world, Evelyn proclaims. “Captures forever that which is fleeting.” War’s toll on Florence, and in Britain, is portrayed; after an explosion, Claude lost all this feathers and went silent. The filthy, ruined rooms where priceless art is found in the rubble of the war. The changes over time, culminating in a disastrous flood.
And–E. M. Forster makes an appearance in the story! His novel A Room With a View, a novel about changing social norms and embracing passion, is constantly referenced. Darnley reminds Evelyn of Forster.
Ulysses is a hero in so many ways. Saving Arturo’s life. Raising Alys. His deep friendships, his acceptance of people as they are, blessing them with the courage to be themselves. While others find love–Col, Cressy, Alys, even Massimo–he remains alone but for moments with Peg and a few kisses and touching of hands with a local woman. Peg has waited for a man she believed would return; Ulysses has mourned a man he knew would never return.
This is the story of love, every kind of love. Between friends, between ex-lovers, between women and between men. And I found myself swelling with love as I read. I wanted to live in this world. Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance, and Forster’s novel of social changes, reflect the theme of this novel and it’s nearly utopian, ideal world.
I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased
adventurous
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No